Home>>Articles >>J.Panchapagesan Articles >> Rajalakshmi— The In-Door Gardener

RAJIVMANI was faithfully dumping in his bag a bunch of unknown plant plucked stealthily by his wife from the fences of a road side bungalow. He was also nervous about the probable rush of their dog or the security to challenge Mrs. RAJALAKSHMI for the audacity of ‘stealing’. But Mr.Mani was used to such onslaughts on his wife and most of the time they had emerged unscathed thanks to their advanced age and respectable look. But it is also a fact that on a very few occasions they did face some embarrassing abuses that hurt the sentiments of Mani deeply if not his partner’s ! She used to laugh it off nonchalantly in her typical style and also won’t hesitate to hunt for her next prey on the very day. Perhaps she is sufficiently seasoned and toughened with her acts of adventurism in the past 5 decades in the company of her adoring and meek husband. Her unquenching thirst for plants that ranged from grotons, jasmines, roses, tulsi and other innumerable varieties has had its victims at all over the cities of INDIA they had lived or visited. Even recently she brought a few rare plants from Bangalore where one of her daughter resides. It shouldn’t be mistaken that she resorts to pilfering only to gather plants at no cost as many a time she had paid the price from the market as her love for plants and flowers is genuine.

After acquiring her trophies of plants from different places and at times after a long journey by train she has to nurture it carefully in a suitable container that ranged from pots, improvised containers like old plastic buckets, paint boxes etc after making the perforations for water drainage. Also you may witness many tins and containers hanging precariously from the roof of their verandah. The manures like cowdung, soils etc are also collected in their outings to park and other places. The pealing of vegetables and used tea leaves are carefully preserved as a feed for the plants. Every day morning inspection of her priceless possessions is done religiously and every millimeter of its growth is watched with excitement of a mother for the growth of her new born child. Any sprouting of a bud or a pair of shiny leaves of her celebrities is greeted with friends and relatives vocally and also with typical body language that the neighbors may even mistake that they had won a lottery or promotion. But there were also sad and unfortunate cases when some plants die due to so many reasons like lack of maintenance technique, need of proper manure, sun light and so on. They are silently removed with a tinge of emotion making way for a new comer.

The history of Mrs., RAJALAKSHMI in her quest for growing plants is also interesting. Decades back when they were living in government quarters at the “city of joy” by name KOLKATA they had harvested bananas, roses, tomatoes, chillies and even jack fruit. But at the instance of their neighbour they had to cut off the jack fruit tree as it was a nuisance for their window. But by that time they had already tasted its sweet fruit for a couple of seasons. The cut tree was however turned in to a sleeping cot at the instance of Mr. Mani that was vehemently protested by his wife for having “killed” her “offspring”. A home garden was possible as they were living in ground floor with a small area of open earth. A mango plant was still there at the time of their departure and perhaps by this time must have borne fruits. Actually the love for plants is a gift by the Almighty that has also so many inherent benefits and that should also indirectly help Mrs. LAKSHMI unknowingly with her lung and heart ailments.

The psychology of human beings is to gleefully watch in admiration the growth of any thing like child, animal, birds, plants and trees for which they are directly responsible.

All around the world people are maintaining home/kitchen gardens for varieties of reasons. But of late we are restrained from maintaining gardens as the expansion of human populations has forced most of the city dwellers to live in multistoried apartments that lacks open earth. But still innovative methods are being practiced to have roof gardens and even inside the seemingly closed houses by novelties. Rather it is advised to maintain gardens in pots and dishes in a limited manner as the benefits are enormous. Only recently have many physicians begun to associate the increase in respiratory problems with exposure to poor indoor air quality. The single, the greatest and most inexpensive action that you can take to mitigate against poor air quality is the installation and maintenance of healthy happy plants even in the hostile atmosphere of living in concrete jungles. Sure it will maximize the positive impact on the health of your family and also your visitors.

Advantage of growing plants inside the house- House plants do more than just brighten up a room with colour and living energy. Along with being pleasing to the eye they bring real health benefit to your body. Not only do complaints about headaches, stress, heart/circulation symptoms and colds decrease when indoor plants are present but also richly decorating a room with plants can help to keep the air clear. Indoor gardens can transform a stale room in to a vibrant living place. House plants have been proven to clean and clear air in a house or apartment. Plants are the other ends of gas exchange between flora and fauna, exchanging oxygen after recuperating our CO2 emissions. In the process they do a huge part of filtering your home. While they do require a firm commitment for watering and feeding, plants can be a front-line against dust and allergens. In exchange, you can enjoy your indoor garden all year long gaining both greenery and colour in your interior design.

The mother Fern, one of the best in purifying the air, is a very popular house plant because it is easy to care for, thrives in indirect light and with little moisture.

House plants make people calmer and more optimist, says BRUNO CORTIS M.D., a Chicago cardiologist. Interestingly he says that studies have shown that hospital patients who face a window with the garden view recovered more quickly than those who had to look at a wall. Plants fight fatigue and colds according to a university of study of agriculture in Norway.

If after reading these article prices of plants and pots increases, please don’t mind as you can trade anything to enjoy permanent health!

BY J.PANCHAPAGESAN FLAT-11,130 GILL NAGAR EXTN STREET CHOOLAIMEDU CHENNAI PH-044 23744963 EMAIL id- jpanchapagesan@yahoo.co.in